U.S. president. He tried to combine his Christian evangelism with politics, emphasized human rights around the world, and brokered a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Whether he was a pacifist at heart, the first in the White House, is unclear. Raging inflation, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the taking of U.S. hostages in Iran all contributed to his defeat by Ronald Reagan. After his defeat, he created the Carter Center, which fought disease in Africa, monitored foreign elections, and underwrote missions of personal diplomacy.